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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26259778">even in the darkest hours, hold on to my hand</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human'>i_was_human</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band), WAYV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Pirate, Fluff, Gen, My First Work in This Fandom, Reunions, Storms, Team as Family, never let baekhyun on a ship, taeyong and baek are there for like .2 seconds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:08:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26259778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The WAYV can run fine with five, but it's really better with seven.</p><p>Or: Kun waits for Yukhei and Ten to come home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Qian Kun &amp; Everyone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>even in the darkest hours, hold on to my hand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActivelyWeird/gifts">ActivelyWeird</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i hope this can make your day a little bit better!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the most part, the seas are calm.</p><p>Kun leans against the railing, gaze pinned on the distant horizon. He can hear Yangyang and Guanheng arguing about something below, and Sicheng's currently up fixing the sails, Dejun passing him occasional rope and acting as moral support.</p><p>It's calm enough that five is certainly enough to run the ship, and yet.</p><p>And yet.</p><p>He sighs, and, as if sensing it, the breeze picks up, blowing his hair back from his face.</p><p>He'd be lying if he said it wasn't nice.</p><p>"Ge," someone states, and he turns, gaze landing on Dejun. "You're thinking."</p><p>"Yeah," Kun confirms, gaze straying to the horizon.</p><p>He knows watching won't bring Ten and Yukhei back any sooner, but he can hope.</p><p>"They'll be back soon," Dejun assures him, and Kun nods absently. "And once they are, we can get those new sheets!"</p><p>Kun's lips quirk into a grin, and he crosses the deck to grip the wheel once more. "You're right."</p><p>After all, it's just one more month.</p><p>They've made it through five - they can do one more.</p><p>Sicheng catches his eye from the masts, and he nods, smile visible even from the deck.</p><p>They've got this.</p>
<hr/><p>They definitely do not have this.</p><p>Kun grips the wheel as tightly as he can, squinting against the rising tide. Sicheng and Yangyang are up on the sails, trying to take them down before they tear, and Dejun and Guanheng are just trying not to get blown off the ship.</p><p>If Kun wrecks this ship, everyone's going to kill him.</p><p>That's a very reassuring thought, and one that's not panic-inducing whatsoever.</p><p>Nope.</p><p>Kun is calm. He is serene.</p><p>He is probably going to die.</p><p>He watches as Yangyang scrambles back down the mast, slender figure silhouetted by a crack of lightning, and his gaze flickers to the duo on the deck, who've decided to go the proactive route of lashing themselves to the railing.</p><p>It's the right thing to do, as long as Kun can keep their ship in one piece. </p><p>Kun's gaze lands on a figure on the horizon, and his heart simultaneously leaps and plummets upon seeing it's another ship. Leaps - because if they get wrecked, at least someone might pick them up - and plummets - because what if <em>that ship </em>gets wrecked?</p><p>"What if they get wrecked?" Dejun screams, voice barely audible over the roar of the storm.</p><p>"We rescue them!" Kun shouts back, because damn if Qian Kun is going to let people drown - even if they are bandits.</p><p>That <em>would've </em>gone great, actually, if not for Dejun releasing them because "they're harmless!" which, subsequently, led to the WAYV being stripped of all its valuables as the bandits made off in the middle of the night.</p><p>Mostly because of that, Dejun isn't allowed to watch prisoners anymore.</p><p>Kun's yanked out of his reverie by yet another crack of lightning, and his gaze flickers to the horizon just in time for him to see the distant ship crack in half.</p><p>Oh, boy.</p><p>"We're going after them!" he shouts, and Sicheng gives him the "we're-all-going-to-die-but-I-trust-you" look that's all too reminiscent of Ten.</p><p>He misses Ten.</p><p>Ten and <em>especially </em>Yukhei, who would be a <em>great </em>help right now, but that's neither here nor there.</p><p>The WAYV tumbles through the stormy waters, and Kun screams orders to his waterlogged crew, who do exactly as they're told in no time at all. </p><p>Never let it be said Kun doesn't have the best team in the sea. </p><p>Even if they're irritating some of the time, they're always there when it counts.</p><p>He squints at the patch of horizon the ship once inhabited, and Yangyang points at something in the sea, lips moving without sound.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Yangyang screams it once more, and Guanheng, correctly deducing that Kun has no idea what the fuck he's saying, runs up to the wheel.</p><p>"There are people alive in the water!"</p><p>Well.</p><p>Kun's a fucking idiot.</p><p>"Focus on getting them out!" he shouts, and Guanheng looks about to argue before he sprints back to the railing, grabbing Yangyang's shoulder and shouting the orders back at him. </p><p>Lightning flashes once more, illuminating someone clinging desperately to a piece of wood, and Yangyang hurls a life preserver into the water, whooping victoriously as the person catches it. With Guanheng, Dejun, and Yangyang's combined strength (it doesn't escape Kun's notice that Yukhei probably could've hauled the person in without breaking a sweat) they manage to get the person close enough to haul him in, and Kun squints down at the deck, trying to make out the coughing, waterlogged figure.</p><p>Lightning flashes once more, illuminating a familiar face, and Kun's heart simultaneously leaps and plummets at the sight.</p><p>Ten. </p><p>The others notice as well, and before any of them can jump him, Kun screams for Ten to get up and help a distinctly waterlogged Sicheng with the sails. To the man's credit, he jumps straight into action - and Kun expected no different - racing towards the mast with a practiced ease.</p><p>Dejun, Yangyang, and Guanheng turn their attention back to the waves with a fresh vigor, and Kun knows why - Yukhei's somewhere in there, not to mention Mark and Taeyong. </p><p>They haul out two others without incident - Baekhyun and Jongin, Kun's brain supplies - and the duo takes over for the exhausted trio, leaving them to scan the waves for the other four members of the crew.</p><p>God, Kun hopes they didn't try to get in a lifeboat. With the way the waves are looking, it's better to cling to wood and hope for the best.</p><p>He almost starts crying when Baekhyun and Jongin haul a familiar stocky figure onto the deck, and he's pretty certain the rest of the crew <em>does </em>start crying - they're back together on the WAYV, even if it is in the middle of a storm with a high chance of <em>death</em> - but none of them let it impact their work.</p><p>By the time the torrential downpour slows to a drizzle, there are eleven waterlogged bodies strewn across the deck, with two more well on their way - Sicheng and Dejun are up in the masts, pulling down the sails once more - and all of the free members of WAYV have clustered together, forming a massive, wet, dogpile.</p><p>Kun kinda <em>really </em>wants to join them.</p><p>"Go," someone states, and Kun turns, gaze landing on a grinning Taeyong. "I'll watch the ship."</p><p>God bless Lee Taeyong. </p><p>Kun stumbles down the stairs on gelatin legs, collapsing on the deck next to a hopelessly grinning Yukhei. "Hey," he gasps, and Yukhei grins, reaching over to throw an arm over his chest.</p><p>"Hey, ge."</p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"I'm new at this," Baekhyun pipes up, and Kun sighs, rolling over to rest his forehead against the deck.</p><p>"...mmm..."</p><p>Somewhere between Guanheng's over-dramatic description of their last five months and Baekhyun's equally dramatic description of <em>their </em>five months, Kun falls asleep, comforted by the feeling of his full crew being together at last. </p><p>(And, okay, his crew draw on his face. He's not surprised in the slightest.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>...so i based their characterizations on ao3 fics and like four videos so. they're probably off.</p><p>thanks for reading anyways!!</p><p>title from where the sea sleeps by day6</p></blockquote></div></div>
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